On a jet like the Tomcat, a 200 lb. man wouldn’t matter much given that the plane weighs ~50,000 lbs and the stubby nature of the wings. They routinely drop 1,000 lbs. from either side of the plane. But it probably would make a difference on any small civilian plane of the kind they usually use for wingwalking.
It isn’t about the weight, it is about the drag. You put a pilot seat on the airplane at any point that would be in the direct airflow and I don’t think any fighter we have will accelerate to super sonic flight.
As to the guy doing 500 MPH on the wing of a jet, need something showing that speed, , most airliners can’t do that actual airspeed. Maybe one of the big iron boys will stop by and say for sure. They do not get to Mach .88 near sea level, but up high where their actual indicated air speed is usually less than 200 MPH, their true air speed and ground speed are pretty fast but the apparent wind or indicated airspeed, the actual wind the airplanes feels is much less.
What is the max airspeed of a 737 at sea level? Did the guy ride that fast or was he just on the wing around the patch?
I thought we were talking about an unprotected person, maybe some goggles if we are nice. Heck, give them space suits and stuff and they can space walk…
YMMV
Can’t believe I didn’t think of this before…have we considered the effects of heating on the [del]victim[/del] test subject? Depending on where he’s seated, what mach number the plane’s at, and the subject even surviving getting to the top speed, it might be quite a lot. (I’m looking at one site that says the nose of the Concorde could make it up to 260°F.)
Ze gogles! Ze do NOTHING!!
Thank God for the SDMB. I had a booking to be strapped to the exterior of a plane going supersonic tomorrow. If not for this thread…
I said 400 to 500, and I was thinking that was a bit fast after I wrote it, but I let it stand. It seems to me most chatty airline pilots get on the PA and make statements like “We are making 450 knots groundspeed, and will be in Denver in about 2 hours and 40 minutes.”. A knot is a bit more than 1 mph, and the difference between ground and airspeed can’t be THAT much. A 727 is listed by Wikipedia as having a cruising speed of 570 to 605 mph, which I find surprisingly high:
It’s a good point that he was doing the stunt at low altitude, though, and probably no where near cruising speed. As I recall it, he was strapped to the top of the plane, towards the front, not that far aft of the cockpit area. Since it was a stunt, he probably chose the position largely for appearance. I wish I could remember something to google by to try to find the guy. I think he did it in the late 70’s or early 80’s.
Oh, and when I say the difference can’t be THAT much, I mean in the context of making a very rough estimate about how fast an airliner is going. I realize it does indeed make a great deal of difference for navigating the plane.
It might help to point out that almost all supersonic ejections have been fatal. If a body can’t withstand being supersonic for a few seconds while the ejection seat slows down, then I don’t see it surviving the supersonic ride to Grandma’s place.
I would hope the person strapped to a plane wouldn’t be sitting upright and fully exposed to the wind blast.
The difference between groundspeed and TRUE airspeed is pretty much just the headwind or tailwind. But the difference between true airspeed and INDICATED airspeed can be significant, depending on altitude. Assume no wind and standard atmosphere. If I am moving 100 feet over the ground at 600 knots, my airspeed indicator will read right around 600 knots. But if I climb to 41000 feet and get that same 600 knots across the ground, my airspeed indicator will only read around 280 knots. This is because airspeed indicators measure ram air pressure, which, given the same true airspeed, will decrease with increase in altitude. This ram air pressure is what our brave aviator would feel.
As for the OP’s original question, here’s my WAG: assuming the airplane can make Mach 1, you have the oxygen mask and supply to go along with that helmet, and all your limbs are secured VERY well, you might just survive. But as GusNSpot mentioned, you might be beaten to death by your clothes. Either way, it would be a wholly uncomfortable experience.
Not much to add to the “will he survive” discussion, but I can add some real-world data points for the 727.
Last night we were cruising at 32,000 feet and flying just about as fast as we could - Mach .85. Our indicated airspeed was 280 KIAS. Our true airspeed was about 410 knots.
So if you were strapped to the wing of my 727 you’d only be “feeling” 280 knots of wind while we cruised at .85 Mach (but you’d freeze to death at 32,000 feet).
To get .85 Mach at sea level you’d be pushing 600+ knots, which is a whole different story on your body.
Pilot 141, I was hoping you would show up.
What is the red line on the 727 in indicated air speed or is it strictly by .85 Mach?
In other words, what sea level standard day actual airspeed can the 727 make in level flight? Can she actually get up to .85 Mach at seal level or does she need to be up high? At what altitude can she reasonable reach .85 even if a bit rich in the fuel burn?
Oh, and for heavens sake, do not go into the ‘treadmill and airliner taking off’ thread, your head will explode… Bawahahaha
PS, do you think an 727 could fly (as get off the ground safely and make a circuit of the filed). With an ejection seat on just one wing 20’ outboard of the wing root at 30% chord with a man sitting in it?
Seems a lot of bad drag in a bad place to me… how say you? One on the top of the fuselage seems doable but the drag would seem to require much power to overcome???
The actual published redline speeds for a 727 are (we fly two versions, a -100 and a -200):
-100: 350 KIAS (at seal level) and Mach .90
-200: 350 KIAS and Mach .88
The airplane can do 350 knots at sea level given the right conditions: fairly light, or starting down from a higher altitude. It can also redline the Mach number. The other night our Mach redline was Mach .855 due to our altitude; I think the Mach .88 limit occurs at around 26,000 feet. At that altitude the indicated airspeed limit is about 370 KIAS.
For most passenger jets (and this includes business jets) you can usually achieve your highest indicated airspeed somewhere in the mid-20s altitude-wise.
As for strapping an ejection seat on the wing…I don’t know. It would be a HUGE amount of asymmetric drag. I don’t know if you would have enough rudder/aileron control authority at rotation speed to counteract it. You might have enough authority at higher speeds, but you can’t just magically appear in the air going going 300 knots!
Strapping the seat to the top of the fuselage might work - I suspect that an ejection seat might have something close to the same total drag as all three landing gear hanging down. So the takeoff roll might be longer, but once you get airborne and retract the gear you would have the same amount of drag as if you left the gear down on a non-external-passenger airplane. Of course the 727 has that center engine and an ejection seat on top of the fuselage would disrupt airflow to it, possibly causing some nasty compresor stalls. You’d probably be better off with an airplane with pod-mounted engines under the wings.
Ignoring for a moment the #2 engine airflow problem, in this configuration I doubt the airplane could make anything close to 350 KIAS in level flight. Potential energy is your friend, though: climb up to 15,000 feet or so, leave the power up and begin a descent and you’ll be going fast fairly quickly. I still don’t think you’d make it all the way to 350, but you might be able to make 320 or 330 KIAS.
Thanks 141, the straight dope from an big iron pilot is great info.
Don’t let those ‘elephant ears’ get you in trouble… 
Now I know why the old timers liked the ‘Super Connies’ so much, they were fast and could be respectable in the speed department even today as far as people hauling is concerned.
I have so little time looking at an working ‘Mach meter’ that I know nada about that part of flying except what I read and hear.